LIFE Interrupted

How to navigate the new normal when nothing seems normal at all.

- Por Jessica D'Argenio Waller

Everything has changed. And, to be honest, for many of us it’s still hard to come to terms with the fact that life is different now, all thanks to a virus called COVID-19. The global pandemic has left all of our lives forever altered, in varying degrees.

For some, the changes have been major. The loss of a loved one. A parent suddenly out of a job. Goals and dreams postponed.

being canceled and relationships that suddenly went from face time to, well, FaceTime.

And for just about everyone, it’s been a period of crushing sadness and mounting anxiety coupled with uncertainty, fear and even boredom. But all of us have one thing in common: We miss life the way it was. Life before the virus.

There’s a name for what you’re feeling now in the wake of all this: Grief. And we’re here to tell you it’s totally normal.

“It’s so normal, in fact, that I’d expect the majority of people—teens and adults—to experience some level of grief for their life before the pandemic,” says teen anxiety specialist Kelsey Torgerson Dunn.

Granted, grief is something most of us typically associate with the passing of a grandparent or a beloved pet. But you can experience those same feelings when you’re grieving things you miss about your life before a traumatic change. You can even grieve things that *didn’t* happen (like the postponed quinceañera you’ve been dreaming of since you were 5).